Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times but was stripped of those titles for doping. / Thao Nguyen, AP

by Bryce Miller, USA TODAY Sports

by Bryce Miller, USA TODAY Sports

PERRY, Iowa - Returning to the seat of a bicycle under the broiling glare of a July sun in Iowa created a pedal-powered litmus test for Lance Armstrong.

Would people forgive doping charges that led to one of the world's most prominent athletes being stripped of seven Tour de France titles? Did the tangle of lies and intimidation meant to protect those secrets paint his legacy irreversibly in the eyes of others?

Armstrong found part of his answer Monday as he rode with an estimated 20,000 others on the second day of the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI).

"It's a polarizing topic where people are pulled strongly either way. I'm not ignorant when it comes to that," Armstrong said in an exclusive interview with the Des Moines Register. "I know a couple things. I know it was an unfortunate period in our sport - and when I say period, I mean 10, 15, 20 years. Unfortunately for me, I came right smack dab in the middle of that period and I participated like many others did.

"That reality that the world has seen now is uncomfortable for many people."

When it was announced that Armstrong would participate in RAGBRAI, he braced for reactions that had the potential to include high fives or those who might decide "to shoot me the bird."

"I've been here before, and I know what the people of the state are like, and I know what the riders of RAGBRAI are like," said Armstrong after two legs of the ride. "I didn't expect a wave of hostility.

"People, in general, have been supportive."

More than anything, Armstrong said the ride allows him to stay connected with the sport he loves amid the most unique cycling backdrop in the world.

Armstrong's appearance is his first on a bike during a major public event since an interview in January with Oprah Winfrey.

"It wasn't a pretty time. I didn't invent it, and I didn't end it," Armstrong said Monday of doping in the sport. "My bad for playing along."

Armstrong said he was reminded of the fallout from his decisions after he traced a portion of Iowa's highways. "At the end of the ride today, I had a long conversation with a guy," he said. "He said, 'I just have to tell you, since all of this came out, I just feel a little differently about the story.' That's not quite a middle finger, but it's an honest, direct answer and an honest, direct opinion."

Talk of doping was never far from Armstrong. CBS News and The Guardian, a British newspaper, recently reported that former Livestrong donors planned to sue for donations they provided, arguing that the group does not provide money directly to cancer research.

Armstrong, who left the foundation's board of directors last October, defended the group he launched in 1997. "What Lance Armstrong did on a bike 15 years ago has nothing to do with the great work that organization is doing in 2013. If anybody questions that, I think it's awfully unfortunate.

"I know people do question it. You know I'm not a part of the organization and don't anticipate being a part. But I'm confident the people there are great people, and it's a first-class organization. I'm proud of what I started, what I built."

When asked what he sees for himself in the next five years, Armstrong paused.

"The thing that's the most important is what happens to my children five years from now," he said. "I've got to help myself, my family and my five kids navigate an interesting time. They've done a heckuva job since this all started really a year ago. ... I'm blessed to have seen no real changes, in their schools, in the hallways, in the park, in their lives."

Armstrong said there will be heart-to-heart talks to come with his youngest - ages 2 and 4.

"They have no idea," he said. "They're going to grow up into a time where everything is forever. Everything will be on YouTube, everything will be catalogued. So forever, they'll live with it. That's my job to try and walk the line with them now."